We're Already Dead
by Skeasel
Summary: The Alliance's raid on Torfan featuring FemShep before she became commander.  Rated M for language and graphic violence.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Bioware owns almost all.

We're Already Dead

Chapter 1

"_Destroy them, Lieutenant, by any means necessary."_

_Major Kyle pulled me aside after the briefing, his grip firm on my arm and whispered in my ear. He had a wild look in his eye, strung out on stale joe and cigarettes, the wear and tear making his face age and sag. I heard he had family on Mindoir once, years ago, before the slavers came._

_I nodded. "Consider it done, sir."_

The memory flashed briefly in my mind's eye as the bullets flew by, the familiar "pings" and "pops" of a near miss. I motioned to Gunny as he circled around to cover on my right.

"Mighty cluster fuck we're in now, sir." He slid out an empty cartridge and slapped in another one, slamming it hard. "Orders?"

Blood pounded in my ears, adrenaline surging like waves in a storm. Transmissions from the forward command unit had been cut off for the past hour. We were on our own, holding the line with limited support.

Flashes and fireworks lit up the black sky, blossoming in reds, blues, and purples, illuminating the unearthly landscape. Enemy shells thudded in random patterns, accompanied by the screams of the injured and dying. Plumes of dirt shot skyward from the impacts and an idea formed in my head.

"Gunny, I need you to detonate some of your incendiaries on either flank," I gestured sharply for emphasis.

He nodded in understanding. "On your mark, sir."

I looked to my left were two soldiers huddled in cover, popping up sporadically to return fire. I fingered my radio. "Garm, Rollins – you're with me."

I crouched down and half crawled to their position, the sounds of gunfire penetrating the isolation of my suit. We had broken their lines, but the bastards were dug in deep, fortified in an underground bunker. The entrance was armed with AA guns and missile launchers, which had wreaked havoc on the ground team and prevented any aerial support.

"Sir?" Garm asked through the radio, static accompanying the apprehension in his voice. Rollins was crouched low, almost looking as if he was trying to be one with the dirt that sheltered him.

"We're going to hit that bunker entrance, and disable those AA guns – give the fleet something to shoot at." My voice had gone hoarse, uselessly shouting orders into the radio.

"But sir, there's no cover. We'll be slaughtered!"

"Secure that talk, Soldier. Gunny's got us covered. You just stay low and on my six."

"Affirmative, LT." Private Rollins shot up from his hole in the ground, shooting at anything that resembled the enemy.

I ducked deeper into cover as artillery whizzed over our heads, pock-marking the ground behind us. Dirt sprayed over our small fire team and Rollins swore through the static.

"Get ready," I ordered.

Rollins nodded while Garm checked the ammo count on his rifle.

"Gunny?" I keyed the radio again and saw him through the haze. He nodded in acknowledgement. "Now."

A stream of red-orange fire balls burst open on our right and left flanks, kicking up mounds of dirt and haze. Gunny and his team opened fire, mowing down anything and sight and providing us with a much needed distraction.

I ran, Rollins and Garm right behind me. It would have been a short run to the bunker's flank, but the loose sand was difficult to get a foothold on. I heard a muffled noise through the radio and turned to see Garm slip and fall, rolling in a tangle of limbs and weaponry.

"Keep moving!" I ordered Rollins, and turned back to pick up Garm. As I reached for him an explosion of red appeared where his head had been, and his body fell slack. I grabbed his weapon, wiping off the bits of brain and bone from my visor and continued on. Rollins had reached cover behind the enormous AA gun, and I double-timed it to meet up with him, shouldering Garm's rifle.

"Private, I need you to disable these guns so that the fleet can blow this place to hell."

Rollins adjusted his footing, leaning heavily on the AA tower. The crossfire had died down at this end of the field, but the missile launchers hadn't been trained on us yet. We had a window of only a few minutes in which to complete our mission.

"No can do, LT. Even if I had a cutting torch to open these panels, a hack job would only be overridden by the secondary security protocols. We need to reach the main control panel to disable the towers."

_Fuck!_ I kept my mouth shut, maintaining discipline in front of Rollins. It would do no good to let him know how frustrated I actually felt. I moved close to him in cover behind the tower, and used the reflection of my knife to view the battlefield.

From what I could see, Gunny and his crew were still hunkered down behind the AVP wreckage. The rest of the unit was impossible to see, but bursts of gunfire lit up their various locations behind rocks and natural rises. I began to tally the number of dead, but then quickly shoved the thought out of my mind. There would be plenty of time afterwards to take care of that.

"Rollins, there's a missile tower behind us and to the right. Do you see it?" I passed him my knife.

He nodded. "Looks like it's been wired to the bunker."

He passed back the knife and I scanned the field again. Another missile launcher was situated about twenty yards away, both firing repeatedly across the field. A third launcher was positioned on a rise on the bunker's left flank. There was no way we could reach it before Rollins and I were blown to hell, but there were other alternatives.

"How are you at hacking?"

A wry smile spread across Rollins' face as he pointed to the badge on his arm. "Best damn engineer you're gonna find, LT."

Nodding, I sheathed my knife and holstered my rifle. "You're going to hit that first launcher and disable the F/F system. Use it to blow that one on the far side to hell. I got the other one. We hit them before we're spotted – after this next volley while it reloads."

"Yes, Sir!"

The launchers vibrated as they powered up and spewed forth more firepower, a red-orange halo forming around the cannon. I slapped Rollins on his shoulder. "Move!"

It was another mad dash across loose sand, and I felt myself almost lose my footing more than once. Time seemed to slow and my world shrunk down to the sand under me, the shattered black sky above, and the missile launcher that loomed in front of me. Adrenaline surged as the cannon slowly rotated in my direction, and I threw myself at its base, slamming my head against the cold, grey, steel.

Static filled my radio as I quickly glanced over to where Rollins should be in position. He was in place, for the moment, working furiously to hack into the launcher's systems. I turned to my right where the third launcher was, scrambling for cover as I did so. It still had its cannon trained on my unit, in cover across the battlefield.

_Well, so good so far_.

The launcher let loose another volley, and my ears rang from the auditory assault. I adjusted my position and slung my rifle over my shoulder. Grenade in hand, I popped the top and lobbed it into the launcher's cannon. I was on my feet again, heading to the low rise and cover. I could swear I heard the cannon turning my way, zeroing in on my position. Jumping to cover, I tucked and rolled, sliding down the short sandy rise.

Debris fell around me, and I curled into a ball, arms over my head for protection. Static on the radio again, accompanied by the sounds of marine battle cries. Apparently, a grenade in the cannon did the trick.

I uncurled and crawled up the rise on my belly, wary of crossfire. Just as I glanced at the third missile launcher, I saw that the cannon was trained on my location and preparing to fire. Strangely, I felt no apprehension or surprise, but a cold calm acceptance. Dying was a soldier's job, after all.

A burst of light filled my vision and I readied myself for death, but it never came. Instead, my vision unclouded and I saw a burnt up, broken missile launcher standing not ten yards from me. Another explosive burst to my right, and I saw Rollins making his way over to me, scurrying across the ground.

"Good timing, Private." I tried to keep the relief from my voice.

"What now, LT?"

"By my estimation, we're right over the entrance to the slavers' underground bunker. I say we lob a few incendiaries into that fox hole – " I gestured with my head. " – and flush them out."

"Aye-aye, LT."

We lay flat against the loose sand and prepped our explosives, attempting to keep our heads down as the crossfire continued to surge overhead. I gestured to Rollins and we skittered out of cover, doing our best to keep balanced on the uneven ground.

With the missile launchers gone, the Batarians had lost the artillery advantage, although the AA guns still kept the fleet at bay. I was sure as hell going to make them pay, and motioned Rollins to follow. Crawling on our bellies, we crept toward the fox hole that led to the bunker entrance. I heard the low rumblings of a Batarian slaver as he barked orders to his fellows, and my blood boiled with excitement.

I nodded and Rollins slid up beside me, both of us setting our charges, then tossing them into the hole. Shouts of surprise and dismay rang up from beneath us as we high-tailed it out of there, running for cover behind the ruined missile launcher.

A series of explosions burst forth, shaking the ground and showering us in unidentifiable debris. The base of the launcher shook with the impact and I felt like my teeth were about to shatter.

I slapped Rollins again as I holstered my rifle, motioning him to do the same. "Stay with me, Private."

The fires from the incendiaries burned bright and high, and Rollins and I moved out of cover and into clean-up mode. The wreckage of the fox hole was just that – wreckage. Strewn about the small area were unrecognizable bits of metal and biological carnage, nothing had survived.

I fingered my radio. "Gunny, we're in the clear here. Missile launchers are out of commission and the entrance to the bunker is clear."

"Way to kick ass, LT. We're on our way."

* * *

A/N: I usually write in 3rd person, but I thought I'd try out 1st person and see how it felt. As always, thanks for reading and feel free to post your reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and feel free to post your thoughts.

Chapter 2

The AA guns were silent for the moment as we sifted through the wreckage, ignoring us as if we were no more important than scurrying ants. Rollins was attempting to hack the bunker door, the glow of his omni-tool throwing eerie shadows over the macabre scene. The rest of the unit regrouped and got situated while I attempted to re-establish contact with the forward command center.

"No good, LT?"

I shook my head at Gunny as he sat down beside me on a hunk of debris that once might have been a table. "It's a no-go, Gunny. I get nothing but static."

He nodded but kept his eyes down. "Hell of a thing you did out there today, LT."

I waved off his compliment. I'd lost a man to a reckless enterprise and it pissed me off, even though the mission had so far succeeded. "Do we have contact with the 53rd yet?"

Gunny shook his head, his eyes still contemplating a random spot on the ground. "Nothing yet. We don't know if they even broke the lines, much less got in the other entrance."

"We continue on mission and into the bunker, but we have to assume that friendlies are in there as well. We've got to get those AA guns down if we want retrieval."

"Affirmative, LT."

"Oorah!" Rollins' shout rang out as the lighted door panel turned from red to green. "We're in business."

I smiled and hefted my gun, slamming in a full clip. "Rollins, you and Green are with me on point. Gunny, your team's covering the rear." I heard a rumble in the radio as the marines readied themselves and their weaponry. "Watch for friendlies and check your corners. We don't know what's in there."

I had never seen a Batarian in person before, and I could've gone a lifetime without that experience. I knew they had at least four eyes (or was it six?), slits on their faces in place of a nose, ridges on their foreheads, and jowls like a bulldog. Yes, it was a humanoid life form that I would have been happy never to have seen, but fate had other plans.

We leaned against the wall, careful to stay in cover when the door opened. With luck, the slavers wouldn't have realized we'd gained entry. However, luck could be quite a bitch.

I bit back a cry when the door slid open, bullets whizzing by our heads. The Batarians had set up a makeshift blockade while we had been hacking their door. It didn't appear to be too solid based on the brief look I got at it, but there were a number armed slavers throwing what appeared to be every weapon they had at us.

I motioned carefully to Rollins, his body pressed against the wall trying to avoid fire. I pitched a grenade into the entryway, another soldier behind me – Private Green – following suit. The explosion rocked the walls we clung to, the reverberations shaking us and rattling teeth.

I shouldered my gun and slid in the door with Rollins and Green behind me, smoke masking our entrance. I counted approximately ten Batarian dead, although I couldn't be sure. The mass of limbs and viscera made it difficult to tell.

"Rollins, Green – on flank." The two privates guarded the other doorway, one on each side, allowing me to examine the room. The entryway was small, barely any room for the blockade that was set up. A chill crept up my spine and I realized too late that something wasn't right.

Another explosion rocked the room and I was flung backwards, my head landing hard on the metal plating. A small incendiary device had been hidden under the debris, detonating when Private Barns had stepped on it. Frowning, I checked his vitals, although I could tell just by looking at him that he was dead. Live men don't have metal tubing sticking out of their chests.

I grabbed his tags and stood back up, motioning to Gunny. "Get me someone that can clear traps."

He nodded and I heard grumbling and shocked voices over the radio. I blocked it out and looked back to Green and Rollins, still maintaining their vigil by the door.

Gunny returned into the ruined entryway, shoving a young soldier my way. "Corporal Ming," my voice sounded oddly hollow. "You're on point with me. You're going to notify me of any IEDs you see. Disarm them if you're able. If not, we'll blow them."

She saluted and cocked her gun, following on my six as we made our way deeper into the bunker. My small fire team of four did well; they made me proud, following my instructions without question or complaint. Everything seemed to be running smoothly until we entered what appeared to be a mess hall.

As I had ordered, Green and Rollins flanked the door, and Ming and I proceeded inside. We came under fire immediately, Ming's body twisting unnaturally as she took a hit to the shoulder. I fingered my radio and notified Gunny.

"Watch your six, we've got incoming." A garbled message was all I got in return, the sound of gunfire and adrenaline masking anything intelligible.

They came in quick and steady, staying in cover and then sporadically popping up to shoot us. From what I could see, they had moved into a defensive position, guarding something that I was unable to make out.

I heard Ming groan through the speaker, and tossed her a packet of medigel. It wouldn't fix things permanently, but it would shut her up for the time being.

Another "ping," a near miss by my head and my kinetic barriers flared and disappeared. I cursed under my breath and sunk further into cover, an overturned table that I had pulled Ming to when the gunfire started. Rollins and Green were stuck outside the room, taking shots when able, alternating when the other reloaded.

I searched my pack and cursed again when I realized I was out of grenades. A break in the gunfire and I broke cover, aiming at anything that moved. A humanoid form slumped down, and a loud scream rang through the room. I shot again, went into cover, and repeated the pattern for more times than I like to count.

The room seemed stifling, my suits cooling units doing little to stem the flow of body heat. Sweat trickled down my face and my hands shook with growing fatigue. Where the hell was the rest of my unit?

"Gunny?" I fingered my radio again, poking my head out to take occasional shots. "Gunny, where the fuck are you?"

Static and more garbled words were the response. I looked to Rollins, reloading his pistol again, and keyed my radio. "Rollins, do you have any grenades left?"

He nodded, his helmet seeming too large for the rest of his body.

"Well, throw them!"

Rollins nodded again and searched through his pack. Popping off the red top, he lobbed it into the far side of the room. Low cries and shuffling issued forth, followed by one loud _boom _and then another. I climbed out from behind cover and dove to the next overturned table. There I waited. No more gunfire was forthcoming, and I carefully poked my head out.

Smoke rose up from the ground, the mess hall now recognizable only by the table I had hid behind. I stood up, cautiously surveying the large room around me.

"Rollins, secure Ming. Green, you're walking point with me."

As with the entryway, the number of dead was difficult to discern. Tables had been turned into scrap heaps, bodies had been decimated. I heard Green make a guttural sound and saw him turn away.

"Don't you dare take off that helmet, Private. You need it to breathe."

Green bent over, his hand on his stomach, and tried to keep himself from retching. I poked through the rubble with my boot, one eye on the hall's exit. We were getting close to the main control unit. We had to be.

"LT?" A garbled, but familiar voice cut through the radio.

"Gunny? That you?"

"Good to hear your voice, LT. Thought we lost you."

"What's your status?"

"Well, it's the damnedest thing, ma'am. We're getting some odd readings back here, so I had Coop check it out. It seems that these bastards were getting ready to ship their latest cargo off-world before we interrupted them."

"Cargo," my voice was even, but I needed to know for sure what Gunny meant. "You mean slaves."

"Affirmative, LT. They were going to off-load 'em in the next few days. What do you want to do?"

"Where are they located in the compound?"

A series of beeps and statics filled the channel before Gunny came back on. "They should be housed right near you, ma'am. Right near the mess hall."

I nodded, even though Gunny couldn't see me, and processed this latest information. We didn't have the time or means to free slaves at the moment, not with the Batarians still wandering the halls. And the AA guns still prevented any transfer off-world. No, the mission was clear and took precedence. Secondary objectives would just have to wait.

Green jogged up to stand beside me. "We're clear here, LT."

"Good job, Private. Rollins, how's Ming?"

Rollins stood, pulling Corporal Ming up with him. "I'm fine, ma'am. Just a little banged up - won't stop me, though."

Nodding, I signaled them to follow me as we continued our assault deeper into the bunker.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all.

A/N: One more chapter to go and thanks for reading. Feel free to post your thoughts/reviews.

Chapter 3

Rollins was hunched over the panel, attempting to open the door to what we believed was the control room. Green scanned the hallway nervously, covering Rollins. Ming and I were a few meters away, on either side of the entrance to the hallway, guarding their rear. We waited quietly, eyes open and focused on any potential threat.

"All clear." I heard Gunny's voice through the radio, along with a few other comments from the soldiers securing our rear guard.

The assault had proceeded faster than I had thought it would, and the lack of resistance so far had me on edge. Somehow, I knew it couldn't continue to be as easy as it had so far.

"Lt. Shepard? We're in."

"Good work, Rollins. What do your scans say about the interior of that room?"

Private Rollins punched in a series of keys on his omni-tool and frowned. "I'm getting heavy energy readings and power fluctuations. It looks like numerous life signs as well, but there's a lot of interference."

Nodding, I punched the data into my own tool. I signaled with my hand and Rollins and Green plastered themselves against the wall. Ming and I made our way down the hall, slipping inside the new room.

It was enormous, a natural cavern formed from the very rock of the moon. The ceiling curved high, punctuated by opalescent stalactites that sweat milky fluid. Shallow puddles dotted the floor. The occasional drip of water was accompanied by shuffling sounds in and around the shadows of the cavern. I took cover behind a crate and ordered the rest of my squad to do so as well.

Lighting flares, I tossed them into the shadowy recesses of the cavern. Light shot up, reflecting off the milky puddles and bathing the cavern in a red glow. I scanned the room again, noting that it was not, in fact, the control room. We had stumbled upon a storage room, crowded with holding cells.

I felt my gut wrench and bit my tongue. This was the cargo that Gunny had mentioned; the slaves meant for sale to the highest bidder. I counted at least five rows of cells with approximately four cells in each row, and five slaves in each cell. Anger welled up inside me and I fingered the trigger on my rifle.

"Gunny, I found the cargo." I let my hand fall from my radio, trying to control the rising tide of fury building up inside me. From what I could see, the cargo was humans, dressed in rags and filthy.

"We're going to need a medic, LT."

I looked over to Green who wore a disturbed look on his face and shook my head.

"No can do. We need to secure this area before we do anything else." I glanced over my shoulder and spotted the exit, the red panel glaringly bright amidst the darkness. Unsurprisingly the door was locked, and I signaled for Rollins to check it out while we covered him.

In the distance I heard the approach of the rest of my unit, still mopping up the mess we had made on our way here. A burst of static and Gunny's familiar gruff voice filled my ear.

"You're not leaving us much action, LT. Where is everyone?"

I slung my rifle over my back and returned to the ruined mess hall just in time to see Gunny stalk through the doorway. His armor was scuffed and scratched, but he seemed no worse for wear than usual and barking orders to his men as he made his way to my side.

"I could kill for a cigarette."

I ignored his statement and punched up the diagram of the bunker we had mapped out so far, noting key points along the way. He nodded, finger twitching, a questioning look on his face.

"Rollins is hacking the door as we speak. According to schematics, _this_ should be the control center."

Gunny snorted. "Isn't that what we thought about the last five rooms?"

_Damnable man, stop joking and focus. Something's not right_. I met Gunny's eyes with reproach in my own and I saw his face slacken under the visor.

"The next room is what appears to be a natural cavern, only one exit from what the scans told us. I got Rollins on the door, Ming and Green covering his ass."

"What about the 'cargo,' LT? We're just going to leave them?" His fingers twitched again as he sat down in a crouch.

I shook my head. "They're safer where they're at right now – at least until we get this base cleared out."

Gunny grunted again, glancing at the soldiers milling about. Groaning, he stood back up and stretched his back. The old ground-pounder had done a damn fine job with this unit, and I couldn't think of anybody I'd rather have at my side during this assault. A feeling of warmth crept under my skin, but I ignored it. Now was not the time for fuzzy feelings.

"We're through, LT." Rollins' voice jerked my attention back into focus. "Looks like…" The radio screeched with a burst of static. "…in the head."

Gunny shot me a confused look and readied his weapon. "Say again, Private. We lost you."

"We're in the head, LT." He chuckled nervously into the radio. "I guess those damn slavers gotta drain the lizard too."

_Of all the damn turns of phrase…_

"We got two other exits here, both locked."

I gestured to the Chief. "Gunny, get a squad in there to cover their asses and secure our entrance."

"Yes Sir!" He barked a series of order into his comm. sending soldiers scrambling.

I again attempted to contact the forward command unit with nothing but static as my answer. I swore under my breath and glanced through the doorway just in time to see the faint movement of the cell doors. Lights flickered red and green as the cells were powered up and the slaves poured out. I keyed my radio to notify Gunny, but my warning was drowned out by the first explosion.

I swore again and ran for cover, shouldering my rifle along the way. Another explosion rocked the cavern walls, and a third followed shortly. Cries of surprise and confusion filled the radio, Gunny's voice above the commotion as he continued to bark orders deep inside the cavern.

"LT?" Rollins' urgent voice wavered. "LT it's the slaves! The slaves are attacking us!"

I fingered my radio again, trying to contact Gunny and get a sitrep. His response was muffled in a storm of static, his arms signaling wildly to the soldiers nearby. Two teams had taken cover inside the head at the far end of the cavern, while another team was caught midway, sheltered behind a large crate.

I scanned the confusion and building carnage inside the cavern. The slaves appeared to be mindless, flinging their bodies toward the armed soldiers. A flash of light caught my eye and I realized the slaves were fixed with IEDs.

"Shoot the slaves!" I ordered. "The slaves are mined!"

Another explosion rocked the cavern, but the slaves continued to swarm the soldiers, crazily veering in any direction. I heard a panicked shout over the radio as Rollins swore a string of vulgarity.

"Batarians on our six, LT – oh shit!"

The sound of close quarters combat accompanied the residual silence after the last explosion. I popped out of cover and took down an approaching slave; a ragged woman wandering mindlessly in our direction, a metal canister swinging wildly around her neck.

I signaled to the soldiers next to me to maintain their position, holding our rear guard in place. Gazing past the carnage I saw Gunny, hunkered down behind the crate and reloading.

"Gunny," I keyed my radio. "The forward teams are engaged with slavers. Take care of the cargo and back him up."

He nodded, his bulky figure seemingly small in the large cavern. He signaled to his team to move, and I watched in horror as a lone slave approached his position.

I sighted and fired, but the slave's movements were erratic and my shot went wide. I had no time, and in that next moment, watched Gunny's sturdy form turn to pink mist as the IED detonated.

"Grenades!" I shouted into the radio. Plumes of red-orange light filled the cavern in sporadic bursts, killing the majority of the slaves. A few stragglers and wounded wandered aimlessly, and I swore as I shot them down, ignoring the guilt and disgust I felt. The slavers' threat to my unit had to be eliminated.

I signaled to the soldiers nearest the head's entrance to cover me as I slipped inside. Gunfire echoed off the metal walls, the harsh sound ringing in my ears. I saw Ming on the floor, a tight grouping of rounds had ripped through her shields. Green and Rollins were still in cover, huddling on either side of the door while Gunny's fire team had taken cover behind the shower stalls. I frowned in thought; they would all be dead if one of the slavers decided to launch a grenade in here.

"Get moving," I ordered, shuffling close to Green against the door. I used the reflection of my knife to view the opposition. The Batarians were bunkered down behind what appeared to be control panels, popping out of cover to take shots.

My hand jerked as the gunfire knocked the knife out of my grip. I swore as my anger grew. That was a damn fine knife.

Turning the dial on my suit I adjusted the strength of my shields siphoning power from life support. I signaled to Green and Rollins to provide covering fire. With a burst of adrenaline, I shot forward into the control center, sliding into cover beside a console.

The staccato beat of gunfire rose anew and pelted against my slim bit of cover. I tucked into a roll and sprang up, spraying the slavers with a sheet of fire. The momentum carried me further into the room and behind another console.

There weren't many of them, but it was enough to cause concern. Rollins popped out of cover and aimed at the remaining slavers while Green followed my path into the control room. We crouched down behind our respective consoles, waiting for the slavers to reload.

Silence, a pause in the opposition and I opened fire while Green reloaded. I released quick, short bursts from my rifle, a single slaver falling to my barrage. I returned to cover to reload, fishing for a clip in my pack as Green opened fire. His shields flickered and he fell backward, clutching his right side. There was nothing I could do for him at the moment, trapped as I was behind the console.

My hand grasped a familiar cylindrical object in my pack, and on impulse I lit it and threw the flare into the group of remaining Batarians. Shouts of surprise and fear filled the air and I checked the power of my shields. Jumping out of cover I opened fire, taking advantage of the time and confusion the flare had bought me, eliminating the remaining slavers.

I visually scanned the room, rifle at the ready. With no further attack forthcoming I fingered my radio.

"All targets down," I confirmed, breathing heavily and readjusting my shield settings. It seemed that we had finally found the control room.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please feel free to post reviews, opinions, etc.

Chapter 4

Silence descended on the room, haze drifting lazily along the control panels. Rollins poked his head through the opening and whistled softly, taking in the scene. I strode over to Green, concerned about the severity of his injury. He had injected a dose of medigel, but still struggled to get to his feet.

"Private Green, what is your status?" I checked the ammo count on my rifle and met his tired gaze.

"Good to go, LT."

I cuffed him gently on the shoulder and exited the control room. I wasn't going to question him, not after what all my men had been through. They deserved the right to see this through to the end.

I passed through the head where what was left of the unit was regrouping and into the cavern to assess the damage. I sucked in air, hissing through my teeth, and crouched down to where I had last seen Gunny. A dark burn stained the rock, and I ran my gloved fingers over the ground, my mind a jumble of mixed emotions.

The back of my throat grew dry, my stomach tight, and I clenched down on the frustration, focusing my thoughts on the mission parameters. I stood back up, my eyes searching through the wreckage of the holding cells. There had been approximately one hundred slaves in those cells, possibly all mined with IEDs. Now, however, they were reduced to collateral damage. Carefully, I picked my way deeper into the cavern, recording data with my omni-tool .

"LT? You should come see this." An almost tentative voice flickered over the radio. I turned my head to see a young private bending over the remains of a slave, an older woman by the look of it.

"What is it, Private?" I crouched down beside her, the body lit by the yellow glow of my tool as I scanned it.

"The wires, ma'am, in her head."

My eyes drifted to where her finger was pointing. I had heard of such atrocities before, but never imagined I would see it. Bits of burnt metal and frayed wiring poked out of what was left of the slave's scalp, the body maimed beyond recognition.

_So what intel said about neurological implants was true_. I sighed and closed the eyes on the corpse, signaling to the private to continue her sweep of the area.

"Lt. Shepard?" Rollins' voice crackled with static on the radio.

"Report."

"Sir, I've accessed the main server unit and we have a layout of the bunker, but I can't shut down the AA guns from here. The Batarians have locked out the controls."

I swore under my breath and stalked through the rubble on my way back into the control room. Green stood guard nearby, hunched slightly and favoring his left leg. Rollins worked feverishly at the control panel, lights faintly flickering in response to his commands. He barely looked up in response to my arrival.

"Where's the bunker's power supply?" I scanned the layout that winked into existence above the console.

"Over and down one level, ma'am."

"LT over here!" The urgency in Green's voice drew my attention away from the control unit. "We've got a live one!"

Anger flooded my veins, irritated that our sweep of the room missed a survivor. He had hidden behind a console, knocked over from a burst of gunfire. A mix of warped metal and lighting from the master control unit had masked his presence. The upper part of his body lay sprawled on the floor, his legs trapped underneath the rubble.

"Orders, LT?" Green sounded nervous, but his weapon was firmly trained on the slaver.

I looked down at what appeared to be a grimace on the Batarian's face, the alien struggling under the weight of his hiding space. He gurgled something in his own tongue and ceased moving, his four eyes glaring into my shielded helm.

I drew my side arm, cocked the hammer and fired, the echo of the round cutting through the silence in the room. The slaver's head slammed against the floor with the impact, dark blood pooling beneath it. I fired again for good measure, then holstered my weapon and glanced back at Private Green. His weapon was still trained on the now-dead slaver, a look of shock covered his face.

"We take no prisoners on this one, Green. You hear me?" My voice was ice and I saw what seemed like fear creep in to his eyes.

"Y-yes, LT." He lowered his weapon and returned to his post by the door, nerves on edge and jittery under his armor.

"I've downloaded the files, LT, and wiped the local hard drive." Rollins' voice was soft yet firm as he strode up next to me, his eyes trained on the slaver at my feet. "We're ready to move on your order."

"Excellent." I said, nudging the dead slaver gently with my boot. "Let's finish our mission."

Signaling to the fire team on point, we made our way over and down a level with very little resistance compared to what we had encountered so far. I caught myself feeling grateful for the slight respite as our supplies, like our numbers, were dwindling. We couldn't afford to continue our assault much longer. Nobody would be left to complete the mission.

"This is it," I announced over the radio, scanning the layout of the bunker on my tool. I signaled to Green and Private Enns who stood point at the door, the other half of their team on either flank.

The door was unlocked and opened with a hiss. Green and Enns peaked in carefully, visually scanning the room for any sign of opposition. The hum of the power generators filled my ears and seemed to vibrate the skin just underneath my armor. The room glowed yellow-orange from the flickering lights, bathing my fire team in cascading color.

"I can't get any live readings, LT." Rollin's whispered into the radio. "The generators could be masking any possible life signs inside."

I nodded in understanding. We were going to have to go in there and search the room. Moving into position I signaled Enns and Green to enter, Hobbs and Miller flanking the door.

Silence descended on the remainder of the unit, punctuated by occasional bursts of radio static. Green and Enns swept through the room, slowly at first, careful to maintain cover, then grew bolder as their visual scanning revealed nothing.

I almost started to relax when I heard a startled shout from Enns. "Movement, LT."

I signaled to Hobbs and Miller who entered the room for additional cover, and took Miller's place flanking the door. "Report."

"Its slavers, LT," he paused in his transmission. "You should get in here."

"Rollins," I fingered my radio. "Take my position. I'm going in." Carefully, I hefted my rifle and entered the room, generators humming gently and flickering with power. I strode over the where Enns and Green were waiting, their weapons aimed at a small group of Batarians. They hadn't even attempted to hide, but simply ducked behind the generator controls, waiting for us to arrive.

One of the slavers gestured toward me, a small device in his hand. I trained my gun on him, fingering the trigger as he set the device on the floor. It appeared to be some kind of control unit, although to what I couldn't say. Leaning down, I briefly scanned it with my tool, frowning as the readings came back. Anger flooded my veins and I grabbed the collar of the Batarian, his hands now empty, and slammed him against the nearest wall.

He held his hands up in submission, a wail of panic escaping from his thin lips. My men stiffened behind me, their weapons still trained on the group of uneasy slavers. I felt my lips curl in disgust and I pushed the barrel of my rifle against his head.

"It was you, wasn't it?" I increased the pressure of my weapon. "You mined the slaves; you set them loose on us?"

A series of gurgles and unintelligible blurbs escaped from his mouth, the translator unable to make sense of his ramblings.

I shook the device in front of his face. "You made them attack us with this!"

The slaver wailed and shook his head, and I stepped back from him, my rifle still pressed to his head. I thought of Gunny and pulled the trigger, splattering his brains and blood against the wall. The body slumped to the ground, lifeless and empty. I turned to look at Green and Enns and signaled to them.

"Kill them," I ordered. "And secure the rest of the room."

The group of slavers scrambled over the floor, failing in their attempt to flee impending death. A few short bursts of gunfire and it was over. Silence once more descended on the room. I turned from the carnage and contemplated the generators, the pulsating rhythm soothing my frayed nerves.

"All clear, LT." Private Enns' voice was firm over the radio, not a hint of regret.

"Secure the perimeter and stay on alert."

Rollins entered in to the room and moved into position at the console behind me, accessing the generator's mainframe almost casually. A quick series of movements and he announced success.

"Cut the power." I clasped my hands behind my back and watched the color fade from the generators. It was oddly soothing.

O o O o O o O

Two standard hours later I stood on a deserted rise, the ruins of the bunker in plain sight and watched the shuttle descend from a starlit sky. Dust whipped around me as the Kodiak slowed to land, the blast from the engines causing an unnatural whirlwind in what was once a battlefield.

I gazed down at the remains of my unit, only one third of the original number was left. Rollins was patrolling with Enns, continuing to walk the perimeter. Hobbs was pacing anxiously while Miller appeared to be gossiping with a fellow soldier. Green approached on my right, stopping next to me and following my gaze. He still seemed jittery from the assault, fidgeting slightly before finally speaking.

"How do you do it, LT?"

I glanced over at the line of dead in the rising dust, bodies of soldiers in my unit that we had been able to recover. Gunny's tags jingled softly in my hands, and I pushed back my last memory of him, burying it as I could never do for his body.

"Do what, Private?"

He shifted uncomfortably again. "You don't seem scared of dying. H-how do you do it?"

My gaze flicked back to the shuttle, the power of the UT-47's engines diminishing as it settled into the dirt. The doors hissed open as a series of medics jumped out, fresh and energetic.

I fingered Gunny's tags again and focused on Green. The fear from the bunker had stayed in his eyes, piercing blue and almost unfocused under his helmet.

"We're already dead, Green." My voice was flat, as hollow as I felt in that moment. "Once we put on that uniform we accept death as a part of our duty. The sooner you learn that, the better."

Private Green shifted again and turned his eyes to the horizon. I gazed at him a bit longer, willing for a more enlightened answer or words of understanding to fill my mind, but nothing came. I sighed in resignation and started toward the shuttle, leaving the soldier to his own thoughts. He would figure it out in time, just like I had, and perhaps he would even remain a soldier. I doubted it, though.

I smiled softly as I slogged through the whirling dust, remembering gruff Gunny encircled by a halo of cigarette smoke. I had asked him a similar question once, after returning from our first assignment together. I believed he would have laughed at the situation now, his tags dangling from my clenched fingers, his voice echoing in my ears. He'd have been proud that I'd listened to him, and my smile faded. Gunny had lived up to his words and waited for me to do the same.

_We're already dead_, I thought wistfully.


End file.
